Energy Security in the Indian Context – The Challenges

Utpal K. Dutta
Published: January 2016 Contact: ukdutta@outlook.com Website: https://www.technomanage.com

Synopsis
Energy security is of vital importance for national security and growth of the economy. Uneven
distribution of conventional energy sources among countries has led to significant vulnerabilities.
The article starts with the definition of energy security and the key drivers that create energy security
i.e. energy independence, environmental sustainability, reliability and affordability. The government
of India has taken a bold initiative in its vision of 2022, with huge expansion proposed for electrical
power generation from renewable energy sources. The targets are 100 GW of solar power and
another 75 GW from other renewables. It is a step forward towards energy security. It poses a
complex set of technological, financial, regulatory and leadership challenges for implementation, on
some of which a lot of thinking and deliberations have been taking place. This article focuses on
three of the major challenges which have not got enough focus yet. One of them is the energy
security for the non-electrical power sector, particularly energy security for the transportation sector.
The second one is providing energy security to 600 million Indians who are either in very low income
group or below poverty line, for whom the word ‘affordable’ has different meaning. The article
concludes with the third challenge – the need of indigenous R&D essential for energy security and
the challenge to evolve R&D culture in the country.

1. Defining Energy and Energy Security

Before we define energy security, let us have a clear concept of what energy is. It is difficult to give one
single comprehensive definition of energy because it has many forms like motion (kinetic energy), heat,
light, electricity (power), sound and many others. It can be transformed from one form to another. In a
broad way let us look at energy as a natural entity that enables us to meet many basic human needs –
heating and cooling (cooking, refrigeration, industrial heating/cooling), creating motive power (e.g.
water pumps, transport), illumination, sound (speech, music) and communication. It is a prime
requirement for quality of living. There is a direct relationship between the absence of adequate energy
services and many poverty indicators such as public health, infant mortality, illiteracy and life
expectancy. Greater the energy security of a nation, greater is its prosperity.

Energy Sources are natural entities as vast storehouse of energy, which we can exploit to draw
energy in suitable form, according to our needs. Energy resources presently commercially viable are
put in two categories – Conventional (Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Hydro Power, Nuclear) and New
Renewables (Biomass, Wind, Solar and Mini-hydropower). Though big or small both types of hydro-
projects are ‘renewables’, conventionally small hydro projects are categorized under renewables. The
energy sources are harnessed for our use in various forms like electrical power.

It is important to note that though a large part of energy requirement of a country is in the form of
electrical power, a substantial part of the energy requirement is also in non-electrical power form, for
example – energy for transportation, industrial heating, domestic usage (heat for cooking) etc.

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With this background, let us now define energy security. The IEA defines energy security as “the
uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price” [1]. Expanding the idea a little more,
the four pillars of energy security are defined in the sketch in Fig.1.

Energy security is much more than energy

Energy Security independence. All the four pillars – energy
independence, sustainability, reliability and

(Un-Interruptible)
affordability should be built for all of the sectors
Environmental
Independence

Sustainability

Affordability
Reliability
consuming energy like domestic, industry,
Energy

commerce, transportation, defense, agriculture,

government and communication. In an ideal
situation, to all energy should be available at all
times – uninterrupted.

Fig. 1 Pillars of Energy Security

2. The Building Blocks for the Pillars

Now let us look into the building blocks of these pillars which we can call energy security drivers.

a. Energy Independence:

Indigenous Availability: The energy sources should be large enough within national dominion.
Diverse Sources of Import: Any energy source (e.g. oil) that must be imported should have
diversity of sources around the world for better access i.e. not concentrated in a few locations.
b. Environmental Sustainability: There are two important aspects of sustainability -

Minimize GHG Emission: Control of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to meet Kyoto
protocol target to arrest global warming [2].
Clean Air: India’s cities have the problem of highest air pollution levels in the world, creating
threat to security of health and life of people. Sustainability is inherent to energy security.
c. Reliability: Three major elements of reliability are –

Minimum Interruption due to External Intervention: due to political turmoil or war.

Minimum Interruption due to Internal Disturbances: Natural calamities, agitations and

strikes can easily disrupt supply of power and fuel.
Minimum Interruption due to Load Fluctuation of Demand and Supply: Flexibility of power
supply to meet the sharp peaks (highs) and troughs (lows) of power load around the day.
d. Affordability: The energy mix should be able to meet all the fore-mentioned criteria at an
affordable price. Affordability is a very relative term. Energy price which is affordable to the
middle and higher income group, is very un-affordable for 25% (or more) of Indians living under
low income or extreme poverty. If we don’t provide them with energy security, internal threat to
economic growth, prosperity and energy security for the nation may erupt.
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3. Energy Security Matrix
A matrix for energy security of these energy sources for India, in terms of the definition and drivers
defined in the previous section is presented in the Table-1. The data and logic on which the matrix is
derived is also presented along with explanation.

Table-1 Energy Security Matrix in the Indian Context

A few points to note on the rationale of the energy security matrix in the Indian context are-

a. Availability and Environmental Sustainability: Availability within dominion is an important

criterion towards achieving energy independence. There is very limited reserve of crude oil and
natural gas in India, which may last 25 years at current consumption level. Crude oil is
imported mostly from politically volatile regions. Natural gas is better placed in terms of diversity
of sourcing locations. Our transportation sector is highly dependent on these imported energy
sources [3].

Coal is the only fossil fuel abundant in India, with proven reserves of 70-80 billion tons [1, 3, 4].
But from the point of environmental sustainability, it is the worst of all fuels. Besides
Greenhouse Gas emission (GHG), burning it produces enormous amounts of ash, and
pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfuric acids and arsenic. Clean coal
technology is yet to evolve [5]. A comparison of GHG emission is given in Fig. 2.

For atomic energy Uranium need to be imported. Use of Thorium which is abundant in India is
still in development stage. Though carbon emission wise it scores well, the nuclear waste
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 disposal problem and disaster scenarios go against it. In the short term scenario (2022), it is not
likely to play a very major role in India’s energy requirement [1, 6]. But it is likely to play a major
role in the long term scenario with new innovation and technology.

Fig.2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Different Energy Sources [5] *

Renewable resources like solar, wind and hydro-power are excellent from environmental
sustainability angle. Solar energy potential in India is greater than all other energy sources
put together (anywhere between 2,000 to 4,000 GW, which is 15-20 times the current power
generation capacity. It is not a commodity. It comes naturally, no transportation of commodity to
power generation plant is involved and it is everlasting [6, 7, 8].

Potential for other renewable energies like wind (50 GW) and hydraulic power (175 GW) is
comparatively moderate [9]. They have a good potential in short term (2022) scenario but will
play smaller though significant role in the long term (2047) scenario.

b. Reliability: On the reliability aspects in Table-1, solar energy, micro- hydro power, biomass and
wind energy can be built as totally independent distributed power system, in locations with
no power grid availability. They do not require any transportation logistics of raw material. It
comes to the location from nature, hence a better rating on the aspect of interruption given in
Table-1.

But a disadvantage of solar and wind power is that they are one-time, must generate (e.g. day
time for solar) type source. The electric power load (demand) curves for different regions of
India show that demand tends to peak during certain times of day and certain seasons. While
solar energy matches the day time peak, it stops generation during night creating a large gap.
Coal fired thermal power plants too do not have quick response time and flexibility to adjust to
major variations of load. From the point of managing surges of grid load, natural gas based
power and hydraulic power (dam or pumped-up storage) are the best solutions. They are
traditionally used along with coal based power plants and are called ‘peak shaving’ plants.
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 Solar and wind power too will need back up facilities like pumped up storage, for storing energy
during the day and release it during night. Hence they get a low rating on load matching
flexibility. A long term solution that research scientists in USA and other countries are working
on is efficient ways to store energy during the day and release when required. Some
developments like large capacity electricity storage batteries are close to commercialization.

c. Affordability: Unit price of solar energy, unaffordable in the past, is now slightly above other
sources of energy. Hydro-power and coal are the cheapest. Present average cost of Hydro-
power is Rs.2.00 per KWH, Coal is Rs.3.5 to 4.5, Solar power (for large utility scale plants) is
Rs.4.3 to 5.5. Solar power is now definitely attractive for commercial use, considering Rs.10.00
and above per unit price for industrial power. But solar power cost is still on the higher side for
domestic buyers without subsidy, considering domestic power priced at Rs. 4.00 per unit. Utility
scale solar power cost is projected to come down further by another 40% to well below Rs.4.0
per KWH in three to four years due to innovations and magnitude of scale. Soon solar power on
utility scale expected to become affordable to domestic consumers without any subsidy [10].

For small independent distributed solar power for captive use or for sale to power grid, the price
is still on the higher side. Grid connected smaller distributed systems to supplement grid power
needs subsidy. But one very important area where independent distributed solar power (say up
to a few MW size) is competitive is in providing power to 300 million people living in
unconnected villages (and unreliable power even if connected). Taking into account the cost of
laying grid to all these locations and the current average of 30% losses in the grid distribution
system in India, it makes a strong economic case for grid-independent distributed solar units.

But the term ‘affordability’ used above pertains to the middle or higher income bracket. Energy need to
be made affordable to over 600 million people in India in lower income group or below poverty line. It
calls for indigenous R&D effort and innovative models to provide energy security to our people.
India is not endowed with sufficient conventional energy resources to meet its growing
energy needs and providing energy security. The only resource that is available in plenty is
the new renewable resource – solar energy. Considering the aspect of availability,
sustainability, reliability and affordability, solar energy and other new renewables are the
best bet for India. But affordability is a relative term. One of the key questions to solve is
how to make energy affordable to the millions in the lower income group or below poverty
line? The problem of storing solar energy during day time and release at night or during
cloudy days is another aspect needing special attention.
4. India’s Energy Scenario:
4.1 Current Sources of Energy and the Challenges Ahead
Comparative figures of energy consumption (total and per capita) are presented in Table-2 [1,9,28].
India is the third largest energy consumer in the world today (Table-2). But per capita consumption is
very low. A word of caution about the figures in Table-2. In the developing countries a large percentage
of populace consume non-commercial energy sources like wood, agricultural waste, animal dung etc.
for which the estimates vary widely. The figures in Table 2 are generally based on consumption of
conventional energy sources only.

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 Table-2 Largest Energy Consumers, MTOE (Million Tons Oil Equivalent/Year), Base year 2013

Basis China USA India Russia Japan Germany Brazil World avg.

Total Energy, MTOE 3,034 2,310 872 751 462 307 306

Population Billion 1.35 0.33 1.25 0.14 0.13 0.08 0.20 7.00

Per Capita Kg. Oil Eqv./yr 2,247 7,000 697 5,364 3,560 3,837 1,530 2,100

The break-up of various sources of energy meeting India’s energy requirement during 2013-14, for both
electric power sector and non-electric power use is shown Fig. 3 [1, 6, 8, 9].

Fig.3 Primary Energy Sources of India

Use of non-commercial in the form of wood, waste, animal dung etc. by the poor and underprivileged is
21% or more than one fifth of India’s energy consumption. Some 600 million Indians, living in villages,
towns and cities do not have access to affordable electricity or clean energy, half of them are in areas
with no grid connection. India’s energy planning in vision 2022 includes providing clean commercial
energy to them. But even in 2022, the non-commercial energy (wood etc.) which India’s poor use, may
constitute at least 10-15% of India’s primary energy mix. This is highly polluting, hazard to the health of
the people and a threat to energy security of the people. Energy security for the underprivileged
and those not connected by grid is one of the biggest challenges for India’s energy planning.

4.2 Assessment of Future Outlook – Short Term (Vision 2022)

Let us review the subject for electric power sector as well as non-electric power energy sector which
receives less attention from the energy security angle.

Electric Power Sector

The current level of power generation capacity and target for the year 2022 is presented in Fig.4
along with the energy sources for the generation. The vision calls for huge expansion of power
generation with renewable energy (RE) sources from the current 15 GW of RE power to 175 GW.
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 Out of this, solar power will be 100 GW. The balance will be from wind power (60 GW) and other
renewables (15 GW). Solar Energy has the following levels of operation:
i. Utility Scale Plants (large scale and power grid connected) – These are large plants
of thousands Megawatt capacity requiring investment in thousands of crores and
requiring several thousand acres of land.
ii. Distributed solar systems (up to a few MW) (Grid Connected and Off-grid) - These
are small independent power generation systems based on placing solar panels
above any unutilized space like roof-top, canal tops, car parking areas etc.
Vision 2022 plans for 60 GW utility scale and 40 GW distributed solar power [7,8,16].

Fig.4 Current and Future Power Plan Fig.5 Break-up of Power Consumption

From the energy security matrix presented in Table-1 earlier, it appears that theoretically the best
solution for energy security in India would be to go whole hog for the renewable energy sources –
hydraulic, solar, wind and biomass. From that point of view the power generation targets (energy
source-wise) of the government for the year 2022 presented in Fig.4 is a step in the right direction.
But there are enormous challenges to achieving the solar mission targets such as financial
resources, technology aspects, human resource, detailed planning and execution.

The current break-up of power usage is given in Fig.5. Industry, agriculture and domestic sector are
the largest consumers. A small part of power goes for transportation mainly on railway traction.

Non-electric power Energy sector

The break-up of electric power consumed in various sectors have been well presented (Fig.5) by
many experts. A lot of excellent analysis of the problems and challenges of the power sector and
the challenges of achieving solar energy pargets have been published. But a reliable break-up of
total energy consumption vis-a-vis share of electric power along with non-electric energy uses like
transportation, industrial heating, domestic use is not available. Nor adequate analysis is available
in the net or public domain on achieving energy security in the non-electric energy sector. The
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 importance of cross linkages between different energy segments is important to meet the common
objective of energy security. The energy security of our vital transportation sector is heavily
dependent on imported crude oil, which does not meet the criteria of energy independence
and is not environmentally sustainable. It requires special attention. 60 to 70% of crude oil is
used to provide energy for the transportation sector in the form of gasoline, diesel, and aviation
turbine fuel. A few percent goes for power generation as diesel gen-sets for emergency power in
industries and power back-up for domestic power. India imports 190 Million tons of crude at US$ 90
to 100 billion at the current price level. It will mount to several hundred billion dollars in another
decade, unless some strategic steps are implemented on energy requirements for transportation.

4.3 Long Term Scenario

By the year 2047, the total energy requirement of India (power and non-power) could be anything
between 2000 to 3000 GW. The challenges of energy security in 2047 can be met by emerging
energy technologies, with which India must keep abreast with infusion of investment in R&D. No
real energy security can be achieved without developing indigenous technology suiting to
local situation and indigenous manufacturing. The R&D to meet future energy requirement and
trends on new energy fronts are briefly discussed in the last part of the article.

4.4 The Challenges Ahead

Execution of the vision 2022 plan and path to energy security in power as well as non-electric
power energy sectors pose numerous challenges to which the government, the corporate sector
and professionals have to rise. The challenges lie in putting in place finance, policies and
mechanisms (fiscal, regulatory), their implementation and challenges related to technology and
human resources. A lot of analysis and deliberation has taken place on some of the above
challenges to achieve ambitious targets for solar power and renewables. In this article we shall
cover three of the challenges which so far have not found much discourse in the public domain:

 The challenge of energy security for transportation sector.

 The challenge of providing affordable energy security to 600 million Indians either not connected
by grid, or even if connected, lack the supply of reliable power or find it unaffordable.
 The Challenge of developing right R&D culture essential for achieving energy security.
Viewing against the energy security matrix presented in Table-1, the vision 2022 is a bold
step towards energy security in the power sector. It meets energy independence for the
power sector reasonably well at a power supply cost, affordable by the middle income
group. Non-power energy sector appears to be lacking in adequate focus and thrust. The
transportation sector which is mainly based on imported fuels, needs bold policy
decisions for energy security. Providing energy security to millions of Indians below
poverty line spread out in grid linked as well as non-grid locations needs special
attention. Small, independent distributed energy generation can provide solutions. In the
long run, a good R&D base and innovation culture in the energy sector is essential for
achieving energy security. Some of these challenges related to energy security are
discussed in the next section.

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5. The Challenge of Energy Security for Transportation
Transportation industry’s share of energy usage is roughly around 18% of India’s total energy
consumption and is heavily dependent on imported oil and gas. India imports around 80% of its oil
and natural gas requirement for the transportation sector. Niti Ayog projects that by 2047,
transportation sector will consume oil equivalent to Brazil, Australia and Russia combined. Currently
only a small part of power generated is used in the transportation sector for railway traction. With
meager internal oil and gas resources, this poses grave threat to energy security. Add to that the
fossil fuels are the biggest polluters affecting health and life span of vast numbers living in cities and
large towns. A major strategic shift is needed in the way we move people and goods:

 Shift energy source for transportation from fossil fuel to electric power wherever possible.
 Shift mode of travel of people and mode of transportation of goods away from fossil fuel.
 Shift electric power generation to new-renewables like solar, wind energy and nuclear.
These are elaborated in Tables 4 and 5 below. For cross-country movement a lot of investment has
rightly gone to road transportation and aviation sectors. But insufficient investment has gone in the
past decades for expansion and modernization of the railways. Waterways have been completely
ignored. For commuting within cities and towns, all the past planning and investment have almost
totally ignored pedestrians, cyclists and daily commuters to work places. Almost all our
transportation development in cities and towns have been towards cars, two wheelers and autos-
rickshaws. A good city bus system is non-existent in most towns. A fast and radical approach is
required to implement the shift mentioned above. Strategy to shift energy source is given in Table-4
below.
Table-4 Shifting the Source of Energy for Transportation
No. Shift Action Required
1 Shift petrol Cross-country  Prioritize completion of railway electrification – only 24900
and diesel to Movement— KM out of 65000 KM has been electrified [19] till March
electric power Prioritize 2014.
Railways  Substantially increase share of railways by increasing
capacity and reach for passengers and goods.

Commuting  Provide rapid metro transit system (power based) wherever

within cities feasible and efficient city-bus commuting system (CNG
and towns based) in all towns above 1 lakh population.
 Replace auto-rickshaws with electrically driven e-
rickshaws.
Automobiles. Dramatic developments are taking place in the evolution of
technology for electrically driven vehicles – cars as well as
buses. India needs to be abreast with the technology and
participate in the evolution. Focus on indigenous Innovation.
2 Shift diesel to Reduce Multi-disciplinary R&D with agricultural specialists, bio-
bio-diesel imported diesel technologists and engineers to improve production, application.

We also need a shift on the way we travel and transport goods as presented in Table-5.
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 Table-5 Shifting the mode of Travel and Transportation of Goods

Distance From Shift To Action by Govt.

Travel Car Walking Invest in pedestrian friendly sidewalks, well-marked and
Less than 2 KM respected cross walks, car-free zones, law enforcement.
Travel Car Bicycle/ campaigns
Safe Bicycle tracks and other measures as above.
Less than 5 KM e-Rickshaw
Travel Car Bus or Metro BRT, Metro Rail, Metro last mile connectivity by e-Scooters
Over 5 KM and e-Buses
Car Car pooling Promote carpooling incentive programs for corporate and
government organizations.
Travel Air Train Faster intercity trains, double the present average speed of
Inter City travel trains. Improve comfort and quality. Attract airline passengers.
Transportation Road Railways Enhance railway outreach, enhance capacity
Transportation Road River-ways Develop river-ways to serve transportation + tourism

6. Making energy affordable for the Lower Income Group

Access to affordable clean energy to people in the low income group and those below poverty line,
and to people spread out in far-away off-grid locations is the most important challenge facing the
country. Availability of power is one of the major promoters of human resource development. Lack
of development invariably results in threat to internal security. Political expediency drives the
government towards subsidizing power or giving free power. Experience has shown that subsidy
does not create growth. Solution lies in creating a mix of initial financial support along with local
entrepreneurial model or a model with community participation in running and maintenance of the
facility.

This is possible and has been demonstrated with small low cost distributed energy systems
based on a combination of biogas (for cooking), bio-mass, distributed solar power, micro-
hydro power, wind energy and human power. The right model should be based on local
resources. For example while in northern mountainous regions, micro-hydro projects have been
used, in Ladhak distributed solar energy has been used. The model should be developed to
provide energy service packages around local domestic and occupational needs, keeping in
mind their income level and local energy resources. Here are case studies of some of the
successful models, some government supported and some based on local private enterprise.

Case-1 Biomass Based Distributed Solar in Sundarbans, West Bengal [21]

It is one of the earliest efforts towards power to the non-grid low income area. In order to provide
electricity to the rural households of Gosaba, the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development
Association (WBREDA) formed the Gosaba Rural Energy Co-operative in 1996 with the
responsibility to provide power to the people with the help of the state and central Government. The
main fuel is biomass in the form of waste wood, twigs and bark (70%). The support fuel is diesel
(30%). (Diesel is used here because when this plant was built till then the technology for generating
power using only biomass was still not available). The key to success of the project were-
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  Local community involvement in management and governance: It started with formation
of a Co-operative Society with membership fees of Rupees 10/-. Voting rights were given to
the members of the Society. The boards of directors were the members of the village
panchayat which ensured a good level of community ownership. The first Board of Directors
was nominated by the Govt. Subsequently, the villagers of Gosaba elected the Board of
Directors. WBREDA remained as a technical service provider.

 Campaign to involve local community: Locals were involved in the decision making from
the very start. Door-to-door visits were made and briefings on different aspects of the
project, technology, its limitations, advantages, and the need for an energy plantation were
given to the village panchayat representatives, who in turn discussed it with the local people.
A series of public meetings was held to raise awareness of the technology, its limitations
and advantages. Resistance by existing diesel operators was overcome by locals.

 Good Level of Community Ownership: Cooperative society that sets the tariff, advises
WBREDA on where the power line should go, and is responsible for collecting electricity bills
from each household. No electricity theft took place.

Case-2 Solar photovoltaic power plant in Durbuk, Changthang, Ladakh [22]

A 100 KWH solar plant has been setup in Durbuk, in Ladakh region, which is so remote that
extending the main grid never really been an option. Due to this plant around 350
households receive uninterrupted electricity and it enabled health care with the Primary
Health Centre (PHC) to store polio, measles vaccines on site due to refrigeration, and many
other modern medical facilities. A Renewable Energy Development Cooperative (REDCo)
as non‐profit entity was created by the members with 15 elected members and a board of
directors headed by the councilor. Rules enforced are followed by the people and there is
100% bill payment in this area with people being charged at a rate of Rs. 50/month.

Case-3 Micro-hydro power in Pathanpara village, Kerala [22]:

Pathanpara is a hamlet of three hundred and sixty five families in the Kannur district of
Kerala. There was no grid electricity there. The village had many perennial and seasonal
streams, thus providing a potential for a micro‐hydro plant there. A plant of 5KW with a
diesel backup was setup with the help of a good community participation seen in terms of
resource mobilization, labor, and faith in the system. A strong committee takes care of the
day to day affairs and the community together sets rules. It presents a case for
empowerment of group as they get to manage the system. Even when the grid came later
into the village many people still stuck to the micro‐hydro plant as the quality of grid supply
was poor.

Case-4 Entrepreneurial Model – U.P. India

A small private entrepreneurship, named Simpa sells solar energy as service provider [23] to
energy-poor households and SMEs in rural India. They operate in poor grid areas, where
customers have less than 12 hours a day of power supply from an unreliable grid, and also
in the off-grid areas, where customers have no connection to the national electricity grid.
The customers make a small initial down payment for a high-quality solar PV system
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 installed and then pre-pay for the energy service, topping up their systems in small user-
defined increments using a cell-phone. Each payment for energy also adds towards the final
purchase price. Once fully paid, the system unlocks permanently and produces energy, free
and clear. Simpa has established operations in 8 districts of Uttar Pradesh, India.

Case-5 Entrepreneurial Model – CSI in Zambia and Haiti

Community Solutions Initiative (CSI), an international organization of professionals [24] is doing

innovative solution on creating affordable energy for the poor [26]. The CSI has designed
Community Charging Station (CCS) which a local services provider owns, to charge batteries
for consumers. The customers charge their batteries as and when needed on a small fee and
use the battery power in their homes. The CCS can be based upon solar, wind, biogas,
biodiesel or human powered generation. An interesting innovation is the CSI Light Cycle
which is a 60 watt pedal powered generator. Two and half hours of daily pedaling on the
cycle can provide four hours of reading quality light for 100 homes. Home owners can buy a
locally made LED reading lamp for $1 and have their batteries charged for around $1 per
month. This business module has been put in place in Haiti and Zambia.

These case‐studies show that initiative from the government or NGOs, leadership from
community along with innovative entrepreneurship can help village level initiatives that
improve their living standard.

Greater thrust is required in the government’s plan for providing energy security to the
vast number of poor and low income groups spread across India. There is no shortage
of ideas. What it requires –

 Creating database of potential promoters including government agencies,

corporate sector (CSR), private entrepreneurs and NGOs and evolving a plan of
deployment of such promoters to different locations.

 Providing finance links – banks, micro-credit (for users), Corporate (CSR) and
even funds given to the legislators.

 Evolving right combination of incentives, technology, and community

involvement and promoting entrepreneurial models.

7.0 The Future Scenario – Need for Innovation and R&D

‘India to guzzle more energy than China in 2040’ says IEA Energy Outlook 2015. Niti Ayog in scenario
2047 has put a beautiful presentation highlighting –

 Power requirement will go up 5 times i.e. nearly 2000 GW

 Transport sector will consume oil equivalent to Brazil, Australia and Russia combined
 Nearly 500 million tons per year of oil will need to be imported equivalent to 400 billion US$/year
 Energy required for transportation will go up 5 times, for industry 4 times, for buildings 10 times

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To meet this kind of scenario, unless India innovates and builds manufacturing base with its own R&D
and innovation, real energy security will elude us. India must focus R&D on specific areas which India
direly needs now. Even for absorption of imported technology, background R&D work is essential.

India is fortunate to have high degree of solar intensity. The power of the sun need to be harnessed to
the maximum extent possible, with sustained technological research. Research thrust area should also
be in the area of shifting travel and transportation to electric power. Some of the specific areas are –

 R&D to raise the efficiency of commercial solar pv cells from current level of 23%
achieved in USA to 30% or above. Innovate solar cells and panels suitable for Indian
conditions, with local material and at a lower cost.

 Develop low cost, low maintenance batteries to make off-grid distributed solar system
the cheapest and most reliable source of energy.

 R&D to innovate and improve electrically operated vehicles – auto-rickshaws, electric

cars.

 R&D in the area of bio-diesel simultaneously improve productivity from Jatropha seeds
and conversion to diesel fuel.

 Research with long term objectives to new areas of technology – tidal energy, nuclear
fusion [27].

 Innovate, improve and commercialize existing technologies like solar cooker, solar air
conditioner, solar refrigerator etc.

 Innovate to use every possible area in the country to harness solar energy. Some typical
examples are – Elevated Solar Panel on Cultivated Land [25], and Solar Panel partially
covering Water Reservoirs – dams or lakes [26].

For successful R&D leading to commercial venture, there are two requirements:

 Multi-disciplinary approach to R&D: For commercial success in R&D, multi-

disciplinary approach is essential. For example physicists, material specialists,
engineering specialists and engineering economists need to work together to evolve
high efficiency solar cells and panels at commercially competitive price. Without
involvement of engineers and economists at an early stage of new research, the work
ends up with publishing of papers only. In fact most R&D work ends that way.

 Investment and Productivity in Research: The track record of corporate sector on

R&D and Innovation has been poor despite tax incentive by the government on R&D.
Most private entities show some mundane research activities just to get some tax relief.
A strong central R&D monitoring cell of eminent technologists with track record of
commercial development need to be set up, to plan and monitor the research
productivity of both corporate and government organizations. Also there is need for
Energy Research Centers promoted jointly by corporate and government sectors.

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Let us conclude with an optimistic note that with a very well trained and creative manpower, India will
be in a position to meet the challenges of attaining energy security for the future in 10 to 25 years. Just
imagine a future with an array of solar panels of a distributed power system on our highways, to charge
electrically driven cars moving on the highway. Imagine a future with every household having affordable
power.

REFERENCES
1. Energy Information Administration (EIA), USA, World Energy outlook 2014, www.eia.gov
2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2011, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
(http://www.c2es.org)]
3. India's Energy Scenario In 2020 - Sarma, E.A.S.,Secretary, Ministry Of Power, Government Of India, Maggo,
J.N., Joint Adviser, Planning Commission, Government Of India, Sachdeva, A.S. Deputy Adviser, Planning
Commission, Government of India
4. CII – Indian Coal sector – challenges and Outlook
5. Comparison of Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Various Electricity Generation Sources -World
Nuclear association]
6. Enerdata – Global Statistical Energy Yearbook 2014 https://yearbook.enerdata.net/
7. India’s Ambitious Bid to Become a Solar Power, By Peter Fairley, MIT Technology Review, March 9, 2015
8. India’s Energy Crisis, By Richard Martin, MIT Technology Review, October 7, 2015
9. Energy Statistics 2015, Central Statistics Office, Ministry Of Statistics And Programme Implementation (GOI)
10. Solar power cost to come down to Rs4.50/unit by December 2015, Economic Times April 7, 2015
11. Peaking & Reserve Capacity in India, POWERGEN India & Central Asia 2015, Stuti Gandotra
12. Grid Integration of Renewables, Presentation by K.V.S. Bawa, National Load Despatch Center
13. India launches biodiesel Program, Utpal Bhaskar, Live Mint (e-paper), 30 Oct, 2015
14. “Biodiesel Program, An Analysis” By Salman Zafar August 18, 2015 www.bioenergyconsult.com
15. Distributed Solar Power Generation–Why Small Is the New Big?, Smart Energy http:supersmartenergy.com
Feb 25,2015
16. Press Release, 17 June 2015, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India
17. Discoms in vicious cycle of piling losses & rising debt, Times of India, TNN | Nov 6, 2015
18. Planning Commission, Government of India – Power and Energy, Septmeber 18, 2014
19. www.core.indianrailways.gov.in
20. Rooftop solar PV system: changer? Will it be a game changer – Sraboni Sen, electronicsB2B.com, Jan 11,
2015
21. www.wbreda.org/bio-energy-programme
22. Electricity for All in India – why coal is not king, Rport by Vasudha Foundation
23. www.simpanetworks.com
24. https://communitysolutionsinitiative.wordpress.com
25. "Enhancement of Solar Energy Generation with Innovative Concepts" By Tirumalachetty Harinarayana, KSV
Vasavi, Pragya Sharma (Lambert Academic Publishing)
26. Shekhar Dutta and Biswajit Das, Economic Times
27. ‘Time’ magazine – November 2, 2015
28. Statoil http://www.energyrealities.org/sustainability/per-capita-energy-consumption/

[About the author: Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology (UK),
B.Tech. (Hons.) and M.Tech. from IIT Kharagpur, he has over 45 years’ experience in the hydrocarbon industry
and other sectors of the energy industry. He had spent a major part of his career with Engineers India Ltd.,
working in the areas of indigenous technology development and engineering management for major projects in
the oil & natural gas industry. He has work experience in other major Indian and international companies in the
energy sector. Dr. Dutta has presented papers on Technology Development & Technology Transfer in major
international conferences. Since 1999, he has been providing niche area consultancy and corporate training to
Indian and overseas companies in the energy sector.]

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